During the English Renaissance, when the political systems changed from english medieval feudal systems, women of all classes were greatly affected. The system during this time was patriarchal, giving men all of the power. Women lived the life of the underlying sex. Even when queens came to power over England, it was still the men who had ultimate control. The women of this time had no say so in hardly any matters. Women were taught to talk less and listen more. Females were able to speak their minds but their thoughts and ideas were shaped by men. From the day a women during this time was born their parents had all control over their lives. When the time of their marriage comes, the women will then be legally owned by their husbands. Women
Societies were to keep women at home caring for the house chores and raising children. Women were denied the right to do any activity that require manual labor, decision making regardless of the social status. Women were excluded from juries and any legal training to the point they were out of the centered at court house. Women could not vote since “married or not, women were assumed to be dependent creatures by nature.” (Dumenil 120)
Women were not allowed to own land, keep any possessions they acquired from their lives with their parents or testify against rape. Women weren’t valued as much as men. Sometimes when they inherited land or belongings their husbands got to keep them in case of divorce, which rarely ever happened. The man in the relationship also got to keep any children born of the two. If a woman was ever raped by her husband she couldn’t testify against him because she would be accused of lying.
Alexis Hill Mrs. Imboden Honors English 9 21 February 2023 Life for Women During the English Renaissance It is a myth that women during the English Renaissance were meek and powerless. Some say they were strong-minded and fearless. Most men could not have done their jobs without the help of a woman. In the 16th century, women had an abundance of duties and responsibilities however, men saw women as inferior to them, and the only exception to this was Queen Elizabeth.
Women in the 1600s to the 1800s were very harshly treated. They were seen as objects rather than people. They were stay-at-home women because people didn’t trust them to hold jobs. They were seen as little or weak. Women living in this time period had to have their fathers choose their husbands.
The Elizabethan Era was a time where men were in charge and women and children were expected to obey. Nowadays, men and women have equal roles in society and one gender is not better or smarter than the other. During the Elizabethan Era, men, women, and children all had specific and defining roles. Men had a dominant role in society during the Elizabethan Era. Men could do many things that women were not allowed to do.
Women were not a part of a class, they were considered property. Men essentially owed their whole family. Men controlled the family and any property that they owned. Women had no power, authority, or voice in anything. If a man wanted to divorce his wife, he could do so.
Laws gave men the power over women. They were expected to obey their male relatives and had few rights. Any disobedience is considered an offense to their religion. Women were not allowed to take any career. Their only job is to bear children and run the household.
Beginning with the emergence of the Middle Ages, it is safe to say that men completely overshadowed women. The concept of the Medieval Period was taken over by thoughts of the male gender. Perhaps, it is safe to say women in the Medieval Period were neglected Not only did the women lack appreciation, they were also stripped of some of the most basic rights that men possessed. Unfair laws at the time stated that women could not marry without their parents’ consent,and to make matters worse, they also couldn’t divorce their husbands. Another outrageous law stated that women could not inherit land if she had surviving brothers .
During this time “A woman's most important commodity was her virginity,” (Murphy 1). It was important to society that women were virgins before marriage and when married they were to have many children. When a woman was married she lost her rights to own property and business, their husbands became guardians over them and gained full control of all property, businesses and land they owned before marriage (Vann 1). Before marriage a woman had some control over her own life but as soon as she was married it was expected that the husband would take over and make decisions for
“Women could not be doctors, priests, judges, or lawyers” (Hopkins 8). For several years there was these bias towards men and because of that women were not entitled to vote, did not receive an education unless you were of royalty, and they were forced to surrender any land inherited to them to their husbands or brother. Women were also only allowed to move to a new community by marrying a man from a different
They were taught how to be a good wife and mother. Marriage for love was not valued at that time; many women are given away for social status. Many young women were married off to men that were selected by their parents and were much older than them. These women were treated by their husbands as slaves, or their property rather than wives. At that time, these wives were only good for managing the household and showing off the family status.
They controlled what the woman was able to do, how the woman was seen. Any rights that a woman had was mostly due to inheritance. The main method of women gaining any sort of power was through their sons, especially when the husband died. The husband had to put into writing what specifically the woman would own or it would